Packing cases or other containers



Nov. 20, 1962 E. HOUSLEY ETAL 3,064,348

PACKING CASES OR OTHER CONTAINERS Filed May 18, 1959 Z.H0u/@Zey United States This invention relates to packing cases, or other boxlike containers, and has for its object to provide means whereby the adjacent walls of the container can be readily interconnected and disconnected to admit of the walls being stored or transported in a flat condition when out of use.

According to the invention means for interconnecting a pair of adjacent walls of a packing case or other container comprises a pair of plates adapted to be secured to the pair of walls respectively, one of said plates being doubly cranked to provide an end portion which extends in a plane parallel to, but offset from the main portion of the plate, said end portion being folded over at its extremity to form a narrow channel, and the other plate having an end portion bent through an angle and folded over at its extremity to form a complementary narrow channel, the arrangement being such that the channels can be slidably interengaged by relative movement of the plates in their respective planes, and when thus interengaged the end portion of said other plate lies substantilally in prolongation of the main portion of said one p ate.

In the accompanying drawings, FIGURE 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of the invention as applied to a wooden packing case, whilst FIGURE 2 is a perspective view illustrating separated plates shown in FIGURE 1, and to an enlarged scale.

In the illustrated example of the invention, the case comprises a pair of similar end walls a, a pair of side walls b, and similar top and bottom walls 0, only one wall in each case appearing in the drawings.

Each end wall a incorporates at each vertical marginal edge a batten a which is disposed at the outer side of the case. Secured by screws, nails, rivets or other means near the top and bottom respectively of each batten are a pair of plates d, each formed from a piece of rectangular strip or sheet metal. One end of the plate d is doubly cranked in opposite directions as shown to provide an end portion d which extends parallel to, but in a plane offset from the main portion d which is secured to the batten a The end portion d extends beyond the outer edge of the batten a and is folded over at its extremity d to form a narrow channel e, the open side of this channel being directed towards a shoulder d formed by the cranked part of the plate d. The extremity d is spaced from the shoulder d by a distance slightly more than the thickness of the plate, and the edge of the extremity may be radiused or inclined towards its corners.

Each side wall b of the case has secured near each of its vertical edges a pair of complementary plates 1 which are located respectively near its top and bottom edges for engagement with the plates d on an end wall as Will be described. Each plate f has an end portion f which is bent at right angles to lie against the vertical edge atent of the side wall b and is then folded over to form a narrow channel g which can be slidably interengaged with the channel e of a plate d on an end wall by relative movement of the two walls a, b in their respective planes. When thus interengaged the part of the end portion f lying against the edge of the side wall b will be substantially in prolongation of the portion d of the plate d, and the channels cannot be disengaged by movement in any direction other than in the planes of the walls owing to the wall b abutting against the edge of the wall a. However, even if the plates were not attached to the walls in this relative position abutment of the base of the channel g against the shoulder d would prevent disengagement of the channels except by relative longitudinal sliding movement.

The top wall 0 and the bottom wall each have secured near each of their longitudinal edges a pair of spaced plates h similar to the plates 1 and on the side walls b are plates i similar to the plates d. The plates i may be secured in cruciform relationship to the complementary plates f (as shown). Alternatively they may be formed integrally with the plates 1 by forming a composite plate having two different types of end portions extending at right angles to one another.

In order to form the case the bottom wall (not shown) is first placed on the ground, and by relatively sliding the side walls b in a longitudinal direction the plates i on the latter are interconnected with the plates h on the bottom wall. The end walls a can then be moved vertically downwards to engage the plates d with the plates 3 on the side walls to form a rigid open-topped box-like structure. After filling the case the top Wall c can be slid longitudinally to engage its plates h with the upper of the second series of plates I on the side walls. Finally, a band j may be passed around the end walls and top and bottom walls, thereby holding all the walls from relative movement.

By the present invention a packing case can readily be assembled from three pairs of walls which can be disconnected for transportation or storage when not in use. Moreover, standardised plates may be used on a wide variety of different packing cases, or other box-like containers.

Having thus described our invention, What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A packing case having six sides with said sides forming 8 trihedral corners and with 3 sides at said corners being disposed at degrees to one another, said case further including the combination of at least 8 fitting plate means separate from one another and each mounted at one of said corners, each of said fitting plate means comprising a first, second, third and fourth hook member, said first hook member being elongated and being attached to one of said sides and having a reversely bent hook portion disposed in parallel slightly ofi'set relation to the length of said first hook member and with said reversely bent portion projecting toward the forward edge of said one side, said second hook member being elongated and having a flat reversely bent hook portion disposed laterally of the length of said second hook member with said hook portion of said second hook member being mounted in sliding interlocking relation with the reversely bent portion of said first hook member, said second hook member being attached to a second one of gated and having a reversely bent hook portion lying in a plane perpendicular to the length of said fourth hook member, said fourth hook member being mounted on and in flush and parallel relation to said third one of 5am sides, with said reversely bent hook portion of said fourth hook member being mounted in sliding interlocking relation with the reversely bent portion of said third hook member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 824,964 Vaughan July 3, 1906 1,159,229 Keith Nov. 2, 1915 FOREIGN PATENTS 115,438 Switzerland July 1, 1926 

